Synopsis

Aono Tsukune is so hard up on luck, that he can't even get admitted into high school. His parents finally find him a school with no tests required for admittance, out in the middle of nowhere. He finds out the school is a youkai (monster) academy, Just as he is about to resign himself and get back on the bus home, he bumps into a beautiful girl. Turns out this beautiful girl, Akashiya Moka, is also a vampire who bites him right off the bat. They become friends and Tsukune is ready for a happy school life with her, until he finds out that if a human is found on the school grounds, he or she should be killed. Now Tsukune must conceal his identity from the rest of the monsters at school, while at the same time being a ready snack for Moka when ever the urge takes her. What effect will this have on Tsukune and will Moka be able to keep him out of harm's way?

Background

Rosario to Vampire was published in English as Rosario+Vampire by VIZ Media under the Shonen Jump Advanced imprint from June 3, 2008 to November 3, 2009. A complete box set (that includes the entire Rosario to Vampire: Season II) was released on November 3, 2015. The series was also published in Italian by GP Manga from July 22, 2012 to April 27, 2013.

After years within the anime & manga community, I have come across a particular argument time & time again; "the manga/light novel/visual novel is better". This is usually in a bid to get people to check out the original source material, after witnessing a lacklustre anime/live action adaptation collapse in on itself.

Well Rosario + Vampire is a perfect example of such a case, whether you enjoy this kind of manga or not, the community has come to a unanimous agreement that this particular manga is worlds better than it’s unexpectedly popular anime adaptation. And it’s surprising how serious people get about it, given that
it is merely a Shounen Supernatural Harem manga, with a bit of Comedy & Action thrown in for good measure.

Yet there’s no need to come into R+V expecting a fantastic story; as this simply is just your average high school Rom/Com, with some monsters thrown in. Well that’s how it is at first, as Tsukune Aono (a.k.a. Generic Male Protagonist No.91), through some odd circumstances, ends up as the only human in a Monster Academy. Now if he were a sensible human being he would GTFO, but sometimes going to school is more important than one’s well-being. Well it may also have something to do with the attractive girls throwing themselves at Tsukune, giving him less of a reason to leave. And there we have our story, with Tsukune tying to enjoy his Harem Haven, whilst dealing with life-threatening monster encounters, all while trying not to reveal his human nature to rest of the student body.

Sounds like one heck of a school-life fantasy, but the actual content does get somewhat stale and repetitive; with Tsukune getting into the usual mishaps & misunderstandings. Then closing things out with a monster spawn and having some contrived reason to force an altercation of sorts with Tsukune or the girls… rinse & repeat. So it’s good that the mangaka quickly realizes that this is a stale formula, rather quickly and focuses on developing the characters through more in-depth mini-arcs, which is a welcome change from the previous episodic storylines.

The characters are what help elevate R+V, but even with that said; there’s nothing unique about the character set-up to set it apart from your average harem. We have yet another “loser-kun” as our male protagonist, who somehow happens to attract cute girls like a magnet. The cute girls in question come in a variety of shapes & sizes but I like that there’s more to them than their initial personality traits. Each of them has some depth to their character, to ensure that they are more than just an otaku’s dakimakura (love pillow), which helps make them all appealing in some way. However we come back to Tsukune, who’s even less appealing and less developed than the generic villains, until about the point where the anime & manga storyline splits off. It is from that point on that Tsukune undergoes some surprising developments… for the better.

In my opinion the best as aspect of R+V is the artwork, which comes in 2 varieties. The most prominent being the usual day to day high school occurrences, with fairly simplistic yet serviceable artwork and then there’s the pockets of action, with bloody intense artwork. The characters & monster designs are somewhat imaginative but they tend to lack detail in their features. However when expressing a distinct mood or emotion, the mangaka makes fantastic use of shading. And I must add that the artwork undergoes some dramatic improvements, as the mangaka improves as an artist, along with the story.

Overall Rosario + Vampire is a mediocre harem manga that eventually grows into something that people, who crave more than the odd flash of pantsu-service, can enjoy. Unfortunately it is a manga that has an issue with inconsistencies in the story, creating some noticeable plot-holes, and inconsistencies in character behaviour, creating some questionable moments. Even with its issues and the incredibly repetitive “monster of the week” set-up in the earlier chapters; it is good when the story breaks free from its episodic shackles, to surprise the reader with a fairly in-depth set of stories & characters. Thus allowing me to recommend R+V, to anyone who is not initially turned off by the premise of reading such a manga.

I keep asking myself why didn't I read this sooner?!?!Actually I know why : because of a stupid reason.While browsing the database of one of my favorite manga websites,I stumbled upon this manga.The title was good,the summary was good,everything was good except for the &quot;ecchi&quot; part included in the genre tags.So I just thought to myself : nah!I'm not in the mood for reading ecchi stuff.This is for boys,maybe some other time....So I kept on avoiding Rosario + Vampire ( actually those ecchi stuff are barely noticeable;they're not even worth being called ecchi,so I avoided this manga basically for nothing
XD) .But after continuously hearing and reading about it almost everywhere I decided to finally give it a try.

STORY : I gues this might be the only weak point of this manga.However,even if the story is,well,more or less a cliche story (vampires + mosters school + hero with no power whatsoever/ hidden powers - basically elements that we encounter in many other manga as well),the author's style and the superb art transform this average story into an unforgettable experience!Moreover,I can't find even a single detail that I don't like about this story.The adventure is harmoniously combined with romance,comedy and a lot of supernatural , offering the reader the occasion of experimenting a wide range of emotions : delight,suspense,curiosity,impatience,happiness etc. Truthfully, a fascinatig and pleasant story.

ART :Just like I mentioned earlier,the art is absolutely irreproachable.The characters are superbly drawn in extremely varied situations : while fooling around,while being nervous,angered,worried,while fighting,while expressing their feelings and so on.There isn't a moment whatsoever when the characters aren't being expressive.On the contrary,they're emotions are so easy to read the reader himself will be immersed in the story without even realizing it.

CHARACTERS :This somehow reminds me of harem genre.An average boy,with no particular qualities -besides being kindhearted ad a loyal friend maybe - surrounded by plenty beautiful and talented women - and even a 13 years old girl.Of course,he is in love with the most beautiful and powerful of them all (&quot;know you place!&quot; I would say if I were Moka XD).But of course Moka,also likes him a lot so they go through all hardship together.What a perfect couple!The other girls are fun too.You'll definitely like them!And they all fight for his sake...What a like guy,isn't he ? XD

ENJOYMENT : I can't find enough words to describe how much I enjoyed this manga!If there were higher marks than 10 I would surely give the highest to Rosario to Vampire,but since 10 is the only mark possible,then I'll give this manga a 10 + for enjoyment ^_^

As a conclusion,whether you like shounen manga,or shoujo manga,or supernatural manga or whatever other genre,you should at least TRY to read Rosario to Vampire.I guarantee you will be so into it that you'll read it in no time.I think this is a manga that will suite anyones tastes.

Rosario + Vampire isn't anything special. Now I'll start by saying it isn't your typical harem manga, being set in a school full of different monsters, so I'll start with a good note and applaud them for abit of originality on that part.

But the praise dies there; the same recycled plot device and non-existant character development gets painfully old fast, the characters in general are so generic it's unbelieveable, like &quot;here's typical loser harem protaganist&quot;surrounded by lots of women who love him...*yawn* Now atleast with other harem mangas the setting changes abit, like there'll be a scene in school, then maybe at lunch or after
school at someone's house or in town, this manga always has the same settings, and always the same suspicious character who ends up being the villian for that chapter, it's more predictable than scoopy doo. Alot of fan service is presence, I mean i'm not complaining i'm a guy afterall but it seems to me that the fan service is used to cover up for the flaws of the series, like they think people won't notice if they shove a chest into the readers face.

There's now a second series of the manga out but I couldn't care less, I haven't read it but I'm guessing that they've probably made the characters abit older and added a new fanservice girl.

So to summarize:
- The setting is pretty original; applause
- The art is also good so thumbs up to the artist
- Same recycled plot device; very predictable
- Generic and uninteresting characters; non-existant development
- Lack of settings makes the story get boring fast
- Over reliant on fan service; used to cover flaws
- Typical whinny protagonist

Ah Rosario+Vampire, my first encounter with this series a sour one manly because I watched both seasons of the Anime version first. I was not really impressed since it was just your stereotypical harem Anime that it actually made me facepalm more than once. Afterwords I was interested to see if the source material was any better (i.e. the Manga) and I got to say this is what the Anime "SHOULD" of been. The story was good, the fights were well done and even characters are better portrayed here. So with out further a due, here's my review.

The Story:

The story
begins with a regular ordinarily human boy named Tsukune Aono who accidentally attends to Youkai Academy, a private school for monsters. There he must keep his true identity a secret in order survive because if anyone finds out that he is in deed human, he'll be kill on the spot. Lucky for him he makes some new friends (who happen to be beautiful girls who all fall for him) that fight along side him and one of his new friends, Moka Akashiya, so happens to be the legendary monster, a Vampire. The whole setting for this story was really well made in my opinion and in fact had some really good monster facts that I didn't even know about. The relationships that Tsukune has with his friends is relatively strong, especially with Moka. Also each challenge that they faced was pretty tough but they manage find a way and pull through. If I had to give any flaws it would be that the first few chapters can take a while to get up to speed, some of the fights can end abruptly and Tsukune and Moka can misunderstand each other a lot under certain circumstances but the story has a whole is good so I can't complain.

The Art:

In the first few chapters of this series, I found the art to be good but nothing to spectacular. As I read more chapters though the art got better and better, especially with the characters and battle scenes. For instance the characters faces early on were nicely drawn but in later chapters each character had much more emotion in there faces and can tell what they are going throw, it was nice to see. Although the battle scenes I think were the most unique. They had such good angles and foreshortening on characters arms and legs that it was really nice to look at. I really give props to the Mangaka on that.

The Characters:

Here I would like to talk about each of the Main Characters of this series one at a time (this part may take a while, sorry)....

Tsukune Aono: At first he doesn't do much in beginning except shield his friends so he can protect them and removes Moka's rosary to awaken her Vampire powers. However by chapter 10 he really starts to man up and eventually because a bad-ass with powers of his own. I really grew to like his character throw out the series and additionally he really likes Moka and tries to spend every moment with her.

Moka Akashiya: Now there are two sides of Moka in Rosario+Vampire. The pink haired Moka is the one who first meets Tsukune and is very nice, smart and the considered to be the most beautiful girl at Youkai Academy. She quickly befriends Tsukune and tells him that she is a Vampire, however her Vampire powers are sealed away due to the rosary that she wears around her neck. She can't take it off herself but it turns out that Tsukune is the only one who can and when it does come off, the pink haired Moka transforms into her true Vampire form complete with red eyes and silver hair. The silver haired Moka can kick your ass very quickly and tends to be more violent. I liked both Moka's, pink haired Moka shows that not only does so truly care for Tsukune but her friends as well and silver haired Moka is such a bad-ass.

Kurumu Kurono: She's might be the most energetic of the group and is also a Succubus. She was OK when she was first introduced but soon I grew to like her too when she started to trust her friendship with Tsukune, Moka and the others and she can hold her own in a fight when needed. She really likes Tsukune and often tries the most to win over his affections throwout the series.

Yukari Sendou: The youngest of the group since she is a genius student who skip a few grades. She is also a Witch who can use magical attacks such as tarot cards and most common a washtub that she uses to drop on peoples heads (mostly for comic relief). Not only does she really like Tsukune but also really likes Moka too and claims she wants to be with both of them. She may be my least favorite in the series but she is likeable and plus she's really funny when she picks fights with Kurumu.

Ruby Toujo: Another Witch who at first was a enemy that hated all humans but thanks to Tsukune and company, she becomes their ally and friend. I don't have much to say about her without giving away that might spoil anything except that she does see Yukari as a very good Witch friend and she to really likes Tsukune. And unlike Yukari, I liked her a lot and found her to be a better Witch.

Mizore Shirayuki: Without a doubt, my favorite character in the Manga. She is a Yuki-onna (Snow Women) who can freeze water into ice and can use ice and snow as a weapon. She can also create ice clones of herself and others. She always seen with a lollipop and like every other main girl, she really likes Tsukune. So much so that she stalks Tsukune everywhere he goes from behind trees, bushes, etc. She often freezes any of the other girls who tend to get to close to him. Plus she seems to be the only one who can tell how Tsukune is feeling and would do anything for him see him happy, even if its not what she really wants in the end. Clearly that is enough to make her my favorite character.

Now there are some supporting characters that were good but the only one I'll mention here is the Bus Driver on account that he was very mysterious and really cool.

Enjoyment:

It took a couple of chapters for me to really start enjoying this Manga but I feel it succeed during chapter 10. There were moments that I found it to be funny at times. The main characters were likable throw out the series and I enjoyed how they overcome many obstacles. Plus the art was very nice to look at from time to time.

Overall:

I may not like the Anime but the Rosario+Vampire Manga is a very good read. It may start off kind of slow but give it time and it will reward you with a good story, good battle scenes and likeable characters. So if you enjoy your Mangas with Monsters, Werewolf's, Witches, Lizard Creatures and of course Vampires, than give this one a shot. It may be right up your alley.

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